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Sanders Doubles Down on Calls for ESPN Host to Be Fired

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders doubled down on her statement Friday in a back and forth with NBC's Hallie Jackson, calling for ESPN to fire "SportsCenter" host Jemele Hill for her anti-Trump tweets. (Published Monday, Sept. 18, 2017)

ESPN suspended anchor Jemele Hill on Monday for two weeks for making political statements on social media.

Hill, an African-American co-host of the 6 p.m. broadcast of "SportsCenter," received backlash last month after referring to President Donald Trump as a "white supremacist" in a series of tweets that referenced the president's comments about a deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Trump later suggested that NFL players be fired for not standing during the national anthem. In tweets on Sunday, Hill targeted Jerry Jones after the Dallas Cowboys owner stated that players who disrespect the flag would not play for his team.

Hill suggested on Twitter that fans who disagree with Jones should boycott the team's advertisers and not buy the team's merchandise.

"In the aftermath, all employees were reminded of how individual tweets may reflect negatively on ESPN and that such actions would have consequences. Hence this decision," the statement said.

Hill had called the president "a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself w/ other white supremacists." She wrote that he was "the most ignorant, offensive president of my lifetime." She called him a bigot and said it was the height of white privilege to ignore his white supremacy because it wasn't a threat.

"Well, it's a threat to me," she typed.

WH: Cannot Guarantee Trump Didn't Use N-Word

The White House defended President Donald Trump calling former protégée Omarosa Manigault-Newman a "dog" in a Tuesday press conference. Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders also could not guarantee that Trump has never used the N-word on record, but doubled down in his defense.

(Published 40 minutes ago)

Hill did not immediately reply to a request for comment on her suspension.

Before she was suspended, Hill responded Sunday to a Twitter follower who suggested that NFL players would learn a lesson about "getting fired for not doing what your boss requires you to do."

"Because if we did everything the boss said, Americans would still be dying of tuberculosis in factories," she replied.